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So I've been writing this book

I'll be honest with you: I've never been a fan of people who abandon their blogs for a few months and then come back with a lame explanation of how busy they've been. So I'm reluctant to do that here, knowing how long it's been since I've posted. But I do feel the need to give you an update and explain how I'm taking Gruntled Employees to the next level.

First and foremost, I wrote a book for managers and employers that embodies the Gruntled Employees philosophy. It's called Firing at Will: A Manager's Guide, and its tagline is "An Unlawyerly Guide to Management's Riskiest HR Decision." It's being published by Apress and its official publication date is November 22, although it may come out a couple of weeks early. You can check out the book's website, its Facebook page (click "Like" if you're so inclined), and you can preorder it from Amazon.

I've described the book's topic — firing employees — as being the riskiest thing you can do at work with your clothes on. Even though it's a book for employers and managers written by a management-side employment litigator, it's actually very much a pro-employee book. Because as longtime Gruntled readers know, how well you treat your employees is the biggest factor in how well they'll perform — and in how likely they will be to sue you. As the book says, people don't sue people they like.

The book's style will be familiar to Gruntled readers. I had no interest in writing a book that sounds like the back of a rental-car agreement. There isn't a hereinafter or a pursuant to in the 300 pages. In fact, it was this blog that led the publisher to reach out to me and suggest the project.

Besides writing the book, another major change this year has been the decision to close Shepherd Law Group after 13 years and step away from practicing law. As much as I loved the practice — giving advice to employers and standing up for them in court — I felt it was time to bring my message to a larger audience. As a practicing lawyer, I was only helping one client at any given moment. By writing and speaking, I can help many more employers at the same time by teaching them how to improve their workplaces. And the best way for employers to do that is by freeing individuals to do their best work.

One area where I'm trying to help employers is in pricing professional services. Specifically, I want to teach law firms, accounting firms, ad agencies, consultancies, design firms, and other professional companies how to price their knowledge instead of billing for time. I've formed Prefix, LLC to focus on this, and I write about the topic over at The Client Revolution.

So now you're caught up. Please check out the book when you have a moment. And thanks for reading.